Bell of the Ball
by Liliana Jones
Summary: Ruby Dawn had always dreamed of him, the man with the bowtie and the funny hairdo. She didn't know where she knew him from, or why, she just did. His pictures littered her walls, his face plaguing her thoughts.
1. Chapter 1

**"HELP ME SAVE ME FIND ME LOOK FOR ME" **she wrote it over and over, scribbling it messily over any blank surface she could find. **"HELP ME SAVE ME FIND ME GET ME OUT"** she wrote it again, angry tears rolling down her pale cheeks. It was as if a voice was screaming in her head. It didn't matter how many times she wrote it, the letters wouldn't drown it out. Shadows crept along the walls, dancing like spiders. She kept her head low, scrawling with one hand and roughly pulling at her hair with the other, trying to rip the feelings from her head. Her pen ran out, and she cursed to herself, but kept writing. Each line she wrote harder, engraving each letter into the table. A creak was heard from the stairs leading to her bedroom She threw her gaze towards her closed door, a lump of terror rose in her throat. Flustered, she threw her pen to the ground and stood, knocking her chair with an audible bump. She cursed again, reaching for her backpack.

Her walls were covered with pictures, drawings of a blue police box, and a man with a bowtie and a funny hairdo. She didn't know what they meant, why she couldn't get them out of her head, but she couldn't leave them up. She ripped every single one of them down, stuffing them into her bag, along with her notebooks and stationary. She looked down at her outfit, and growled. She couldn't run in this, not the running she needed to do. Her blue sailor skirt only went down to her knees. She considered changing into some jeans, but she didn't have the time for it. Instead, she grabbed her riding coat and hastily put it on, then threw the bag over her shoulder. Her feet were still bare, so she grabbed her converse trainers and tied them up quickly, then stood. She took a look around her room. Once her only safe haven, now the centre of her fear. A loud scraping came from outside her closed door, like long, sharp fingernails across an old, black chalkboard. She was cornered, there was nowhere to run now. She wanted to cry out in frustration, but kept her emotions contained. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, Except…

Yes! The window! She ran to it, working at the latch. Dust fluttered from it's panes, making her nose tickle. The window hadn't been opened for years, she had always been terrified of falling from it, but she had no choice. She unslung her bag again, and started to rummage under her illustrations.

'Eureka!' she exclaimed, clasping her hand around a small letter opener. She dug it under the latch, wiggling it furiously until it gave way, leaving her to throw the window wide open. She glanced back at her door. Someone was jiggling the handle, bursting to get in. She chucked the letter opener back into her bag and zipped it up, then made sure the window was wide enough for her to leap out of. She knew it was possible she wouldn't land properly. It was a long way down, easy enough to shatter bones, but she didn't care. Anywhere was better than here, where she would be completely helpless to whatever was coming. Taking a deep breath, she leaped gracefully out of her bedroom window.


	2. Chapter 2

The cool night air zooms past her face as she free-falls. The bag slipped from her fingers as she gathered speed, falling back first. "_So, this is how I die_." She thought to herself. As she felt her heart rise to the top of her chest, she suddenly stopped, as though hitting an invisible force field.

'Woah!' She yelled, suspended in thin air about a meter from the hard concrete. Before her mind had the chance to come to terms with what had happened, two arms had lifted her gently.

'Shh, it's okay, I've got you.' She gazed into the sea green eyes looking into her own blue ones. The man set her down, then held out his hand, grinning. He was wearing a bow tie, and had a funny hairdo.

'Ello, I'm the Doctor!' he said, before she collapsed into his arms.

She awoke some time later to buzzing and whirring, coming from somewhere near the room she lay in. She sat up quickly, looking around her.

'Doctor, she's awake.' A woman stood in the doorway to her room. She had shoulder length brown hair, and concerned eyes. There was a shuffling, then a crash from the other room.

'I'm okay!' he called, then skidded into the room. He saw her sitting up, and smiled, then waved. 'Ah, hello, I was wondering when you would wake up! Looked like you needed a bit of help, lucky we were there to catch you. I dread to think what could have happened otherwise…Anyway, we found your bag!' He throws it to her. She looks at him, worried, then quickly stashes the bag under her bed, looking at him suspiciously.

'Don't worry, we didn't look inside!' he said. She sighed, relieved.

'So, what exactly is your name, if I may ask? You must be the first girl I've ever had aboard my Tardis that I haven't gotten the name of first!'

'My name's Ruby, Ruby Dawn.' she said, frowning slightly. She was now certain this was the man who had been running through her brain, though she couldn't work out why. But if this was the man, that must mean…

'Where's the police box?' she asked, looking around. The Doctor looked surprised that she knew of it, but guessed she had seen it before fainting.

'We're in it!' he said, gesturing around the room.

'But…that isn't possible! The police box is normal sized, and it seems pretty colossal in here!' she said, confused out of her mind.

'On the outside, yes, but in here…' His eyes twinkled. 'As you said, colossal! She's a wonderful design, she is. Nice and sturdy- well, most of the time! Heaps of rooms, calming no-Ow!' The woman slapped his arm, glaring at him. The Doctor massaged his arm with a hurt look in his eyes. The woman then turned to Ruby, smiling reassuringly.

'I'm sorry for him, he often gets a bit insane while talking about his machines.' She said, laughing girlishly. 'Oh, and I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Jenna. I'm the Doctor's companion!' She held her hand out to Ruby, who shook it, smiling.

'Companion? What exactly does that mean?' asked Ruby, tilting her head curiously.

'Well, basically I stay on the Tardis with the Doctor, going on adventures… Oh, and keep him-' she nudged the Doctor with her elbow '-Under control. I swear, if he didn't have me he'd have gotten himself killed by now!'

'Hmm… What would I have to do to become a companion?' asked Ruby eagerly. The thought of leaving the dump she called home interested her greatly. Especially if she got to leave with the man she had been dreaming about for as long as she could remember.

Jenna and the Doctor exchanged a look, then the Doctor grinned.

'You don't have to do a thing, welcome to the team!' he said, reaching his hand out to her. She held it for a moment, then they shook on it. When the Doctor removed his hand, he looked down at her again.

'There is one thing I would like to know, though. Who or what were you running from? Not saying you were, but it isn't normal for a girl to leap out of her bedroom window, is it?'

Ruby looked down. She didn't know if she should tell them the truth, or how much to tell them. "_If I'm going to tell anyone, it should be these two. They've welcomed me into their home, the least I can do is tell them my story._" She thought to herself, before plucking up the courage to begin talking.


	3. Chapter 3

'I think my p-' a ringing interrupted her mid sentence. The Doctor turned to run off, then turned back.

'Er, won't be a minute!' he said, then disappeared into the other room. Ruby sighed, resting her chin on her palms. She had just mentally prepared herself to spill her secrets to a couple of people she had only just met, and a phone just HAD to ring.

Jenna swept from the doorway and sat on the bed right beside Ruby, placing her warm hand against Ruby's cheek.

'I'm sorry about him, he gets distracted quite easily sometimes.'

'It's fine, really. I didn't have anything that important to say, anyway.' Jenna lifted Ruby's head from her hands, then kissed her forehead lightly, like a mother would.

The Doctor skidded back into the room.

'Sorry about that, important business. Now, where were you?'

Ruby shook her head. 'It doesn't matter, nothing interesting.'

'Great! Well, it's time for your first big adventure, are you ready?'

Both girls perked their heads up.

'Adventure? Definitely!' said Jenna, before turning to Ruby. 'What do you say?'

'I say MOST definitely!' she replied, grinning. Jenna stood, putting her hands on her hips.

'Well then, it's settled!' she turned to the Doctor. 'Where to, Doc?'

'Well, that was someone important on the phone, someone VERY important! I'm keeping my lips sealed, but I WILL say, you may need to dress up a bit more for this adventure!' He tapped his nose knowingly, then ran off into the other room again. Ruby looked at Jenna quizzically.

'What does he mean by "dress up a bit more"?'

Jenna just shrugged, then held out her hand. Ruby took it, allowing Jenna to help her up.

'C'mon, I'll show you where the spare clothes are. You'll be certain to find something to your liking!' Jenna dragged Ruby off down a long corridor. Ruby could hardly believe her eyes, how big could this place possibly BE?

Jenna counted the doors as they half-ran, before suddenly stopping in front of a rather fancy looking door.

'You ready to feast your eyes on one of the biggest wardrobes you'll ever see?' asked Jenna, her eyes twinkling. Ruby nodded in response. Jenna slowly turned the handle, then pushed the door wide open. They took one step into the room, before Ruby clasped her hands tightly over her mouth, looking around in awe.


	4. Chapter 4

It was more than she had imagined, ALOT more. There had to be a million dresses ALONE, spread neatly around the room on big racks. The room itself had to be about the size of a ballroom, it was even the same shape! There was even a balcony which ran right around the room, like an old opera house.

'I have no idea how you manage to find anything in here...' whispered Ruby, her eyes still wide.

'Well, there are actually a few ways we manage...' replied Jenna, before taking Ruby's hand again and leading her to a little console.

'He said "dress up a bit more", right? Which means fancy, so,' Jenna typed "FANCY" into the console, then pressed "enter".

Everything began to happen at once. Displays at the front were being pushed by unseen hands to the back, then clothing that may be classified as "fancy" was brought to the front. It ranged from fancy dress and costumes, to tuxedos and luxurious dresses.

'Hmm... I think we need another clue to exactly what we're needing... DOCTOR!' Jenna yelled, folding her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

'Just a minute!' came a call from the console room, then a thunder of footsteps. The Doctor appeared in the doorway, already dressed in an outfit quite unlike anything Ruby had seen outside of history books. It was basically a tuxedo though, by with added frills.

'Sir... Are we going to a masquerade ball?' asked Ruby, guessing from his strange apparel.

'You're really onto it, Ruby! Well, what're you two waiting for? Lose your identities already!' replied the Doctor, grinning. He reached into one of the shelves covered in jewellery, then pulled his hand out again, gripping three masks. He tossed a beautiful red one to Ruby, a purple one to Jenna, then kept his own pale green one on. Ruby examined her mask, turning it over in her hands. It was metallic red, with a bright gold edge, and little pink jewels spread out in the corners. Ruby snorted, looking at the Doctor, eyebrows raised.

'Red? Oh, how cliché of you, Doctor.' she muttered, a smirk on her face.

'Cliché? I don't know what you're talking about!' he replied, fixing his own mask on.

'Don't act dumb with me, Doctor. Have you already forgotten my name?'

'Of course not, I only picked that one because I thought it would suite you!' Ruby examined the mask. It was very pretty, but she wasn't giving up on the battle this easily.

'Well, if it weren't so cliché, I would agree with you.' she reluctantly handed it back to him. 'Now, pick another colour!' she said quite simply. It wasn't really in her nature to boss people around, but it was a very unusual day anyway.

The Doctor put her mask away again, then began searching for a new one. After a few seconds, he withdrew his hand, then tossed a new on to her.

'Better?' he asked, smiling.

She caught it carefully, holding it up to examine it. It was blue, but not just any blue. It was... Her favourite blue, the blue she had about a hundred pencils of. Her only description for it? Police box blue. It made her smile, her eyes twinkle.

'It's perfect...' she whispered, tracing her fingers over it. The design was quite like the other one, but little sapphires, REAL sapphires, instead of the pink gems, along with a few green gems too... Opal, maybe? Thin strips of pale green twirled around like little waves, the same colour as the Doctor's mask, and it had a silver edging instead of gold.

'Glad it suites your preferences better, Ruby.' He replied, before clapping his hands together once. 'Right, I'm off again, I'll get you both when you're ready!' the Doctor left the room again, leaving Jenna and Ruby to go through the dresses. Jenna walked back to the console, typing another word, "MASQUERADE", then hitting enter. Over three quarters of the clothing zoomed out of the way, leaving the perfect ones for their adventure. Jenna walked with a spring in her step to the first rack, then began shuffling through the dresses. Ruby shrugged and walked to another, examining each dress carefully. She finally decided to find one that matched her mask, so she went on the hunt for a blue one, hopefully with some kind of silver and pale green colouring to it.

After about three displays, she came across a long, beautiful police box-blue ball gown, with a silver, frilled front, and pale green running along the sides. She gasped, touching it lightly. It was more amazing than any she had ever seen, every stitch seemed perfect.

'Wow... That dress is absolutely perfect!' Jenna had appeared beside her and was now smiling brightly. 'It'll look great on you, would you like to try it?'

Ruby felt awkward. 'Erm... Do you have a dressing room or something?' she asked, looking around. Jenna giggled, then picked up a little device, showing it to Ruby.

'You don't have to bother with undressing, Ruby! All you have to do is place this-' Jenna held up a wire that was attached to the device. It had a small circular end, with a few smaller wires coming off the sides. '-onto the dress, then press this little button!' she gestured to a green button in the top left corner of the device. She then handed it over to Ruby, who placed the little wire against the ball gown. She took a deep breath, then pressed the button.

The effect was so sudden, she didn't even have enough time to blink! Jenna gasped, then squealed loudly.

'Wow! I knew it'd look perfect on you, but this... Just, wow!' Jenna took the device off Ruby again, then smiled once more before walking off to find her own dress. Ruby looked around the room before spotting a large mirror in the middle of the room. She walked to it, wanting to see it for herself. She closed her eyes as she walked to it, wanting to be surprised.

When she was where she expected the mirror would be, she opened her eyes. She gasped loudly, putting a hand over her mouth. It was absolutely stunning, fitting as though it had been custom made just for her! She gathered up the skirt, then spun around, watching herself closely in the mirror. Almost forgot! she thought to herself. She held up her mask, then tied it slowly, getting it into the exact right position. She then lifted her hair out from under the string that was holding it in place, then looked back at her reflection again. She still couldn't get over exactly how stunning she looked, she was certain her face showed it too. She was still holding her dress above her feet, so she ran back to Jenna, who now stood in another ball gown, just as beautiful as Ruby's. Hers matched her mask, too, with a mix of silver, blue, and purple colouring.

'Isn't it perfect?' asked Jenna, twirling once. All Ruby could do was nod and smile brightly, she was in awe.

Ruby helped Jenna put on her mask, then they started to go through the accessories. They all varied incredibly, all perfect in their own way.

Ruby shuffled through a few necklaces before finding one that really stood out to her, held some kind of meaning to her. It was silver, basically a bunch of circles and spirals, but she could read it, as though it was written using letters.

'Perfect...' she muttered, frowning.

Jenna glanced over, thinking Ruby was speaking to her.

'What? Oh, yes, that's really perfect!' she said, smiling. Ruby shook her head, still frowning.

'No... That's what it says, it says "Perfect", can't you read it?' she replied, showing it to Jenna.

'I can't read Gallifreyan... I didn't realize you could.' Jenna tilted her head slightly, thinking. Ruby was incredibly confused, seeing as she hadn't realized she had done anything special. It came to her naturally; she wasn't sure where she had learned to read it.

'I hadn't realized I could either.' she replied, then shrugged. Jenna continued to examine her for a short while, then went back to going through the accessories. Ruby held the necklace up, looking at it, then quickly fastened it around her neck, lifting her hair over it. Jenna hadn't noticed, which made Ruby happy. She felt somewhat... Emotionally joined to it, although she couldn't work out exactly why.

'Ooo, what about this?' Jenna awoke her from her daze, holding out a charm bracelet. The colour scheme matched hers perfectly, little blue and green beads, with silver charms. Each charm was a different word in Gallifreyan, Beautiful, Perfect, Love, Magic... The list went on.

'Can you read all of those too?' asked Jenna, handing it to her.

'No,' lied Ruby, playing with the beads. 'I guess the necklace was just something I remember from somewhere.' she started trying to fasten the bracelet to her wrist, before Jenna offered to help her out. The metal felt cold on her pale skin, but it would soon warm up. She smiled a thanks to Jenna, then helped her out with a difficult necklace clasp. Jenna had a beautiful, incredibly dressy necklace, made up with purple and blue gems. It looked very expensive, and Ruby wondered how the Doctor got all the stuff in this room.

'Thank you!' said Jenna, perfecting the position of the necklace. 'Now, hair!' she dragged Ruby over to another little station. It was basically just a big mirror, but there was also a console sitting in front of it.

'Would you like to go first, or shall I?' asked Jenna, smiling. Ruby shrugged.

'I guess I'll go first.' she replied, sitting down. 'What do I have to do?'

'Well, this is utterly amazing, I promise you! All you have to do is look into the mirror, then use your hand to swipe through different hairstyles! It's a motion sensor, so you just move your hand to go through the options. Tell me when you find one you like!' Ruby nodded, looking into the mirror. Her long, jet black hair hung limply in her reflection, it really needed a bit more... Bounce. Bounce and curl. She swiped her hand to the side, still watching the mirror closely. Her reflection shifted and changed, completely redoing her hairdo. Now, the mirror held an image of her with shorter, curlier hair. The curls made her look to girlish, they reminded her of a little six or so year old, wearing a sailor suite, licking a big lollipop. She touched her hair lightly, surprised to feel it hadn't changed to match her reflection. She swiped her hand again, going through more options, looking for one that looked perfect.

'Stop!' yelled Jenna, grabbing her hand lightly. Ruby looked at the mirror, confused at Jenna's outburst, then gasped. Her hair was filled with little corkscrew curls, but instead of looking childish, they looked utterly elegant. Not a single hair was out of place, and as her necklace said, it was-

'Perfect...' she whispered, looking up at Jenna. 'I want this one.'

'I thought you would.' replied Jenna, releasing Ruby's hand. She then smiled and clicked a little button on the screen, sending a slight tingly sensation up Ruby's arms and to her scalp. Her hair fluttered, then, beginning from the roots, a wave ran down her hair, the corkscrews twisting perfectly.

It only took a few seconds for every last curl to be perfected. Ruby lifted her hand, touching one of them gingerly.

'Oi! Don't touch them!' Jenna batted her hand away, grinning. Ruby slunk back, but smiled anyway.

'Your turn now, Jenna!' Ruby stood up, then gestured at her seat. Jenna sat down, then started going through the options.

Rose looked over Jenna's shoulder, mainly smiling, but laughing at a few of the more insane hairstyles. She finally decided upon a gorgeous hairdo that suited her perfectly. It was elegant, yet cute. It made her features stand out more, making her seemingly prettier than before.

'Well...?' asked Jenna, twirling slightly.

'It's absolutely beautiful! You look so pretty...' replied Ruby, smiling brightly.

'Thank you darling! So, do you think we're ready now?'

'Most definitely!' they linked arms together, running carefully down the hall so they didn't trip and ruin their outfits.


End file.
